a

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“
Edwards, California, wrote to enquire whether an or a is to be used in a parenthetical construction like "... an (unspecified) number of years ago."

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Definitions (49)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (22)

  1. noun The first letter of the modern English alphabet.
  2. noun Any of the speech sounds represented by the letter a.
  3. noun The first in a series.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (14)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (6)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (7)

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Examples

  • Edwards, California, wrote to enquire whether an or a is to be used in a parenthetical construction like "... an (unspecified) number of years ago." —  VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol III No 3
  • I started out with the common misconception that the Boston a is always broad. —  VERBATIM: The Language Quarterly Vol 2 No 1
  • There was a physical pain in Daria's chest -- a twisting, wrenching feeling. —  Dolls
  • As you recall, in Somalia, which is -- a lot of people are calling this a parallel -- calling a parallel to this operation, in Somalia we shifted our mission from assisting humanitarian assistance to a kind of a law enforcement thing, chasing down Aidid. —  CNN Transcript Jul 26, 2003
  • That's another way to help the economy, to help protect and create jobs in American. a QUESTION: Has the administration reached the view that it is necessary in fact to have another stimulus program -- a package of things -- to stimulate the economy beyond what is already in place? —  CNN Transcript Sep 25, 2001
 

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Words tagged a

apotropaic · apotamkin · alkonost · ajattara · agathodaemon · asemic writing · amitié amoureuse · arschkriecher

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A has been looked up 1304 times, favorited 0 times, listed 42 times, and commented on once.

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Etymologies (10)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (3)

  1. Middle English, variant of an, an; see an1.
  2. Middle English, from Old English an, in; see on.
  3. Middle English, alteration of haven, to have; see have.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (7)

  1. from Middle English a (before consonants), earlier an, orig. with long vowel, from Anglo-Saxon ān, one, an: see an.
  2. from Middle English and late Anglo-Saxon a, reduced form of an, on, on, in: see on.
  3. English dial., corruption of I, being the first element, obscured, of the diphthong äi.
  4. English dial., from Middle English dial. a, corruptly for he, he, heo, she, he, it, heo, hi, they.
  5. English dial., from Middle English a, ha, reduced form of have, the v being dropped as in a or o' for of (ov).
  6. Scots, usually written a', = English all, like Scots ca' = English call, fa' = fall, ha' = hall, etc.
  7. See ah and O.
 

Pronunciations
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/ə/
by Lee Davis-Thalbourne
by J.W. Nacnud
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